Video Snip

A lightweight, native Windows screen recording tool inspired by the Snipping Tool. Select a region or window and instantly start recording - no bloat, no complex UI, just quick video captures.

Features

• Full Screen Capture - Record your entire screen with one click
• Region Capture - Drag to select any area of your screen
• Window Capture - Click on any window to record it
• Ultrawide Monitor Support - Works with 5K+ ultrawide displays (auto-scales for encoder compatibility)
• Fixed Resolution Presets - Choose from common resolutions (4K, 1080p, 720p, etc.) with live preview
• Aspect Ratio Constraints - Lock to 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, or 9:16
• Pause/Resume - Pause recording and resume when ready
• Global Hotkeys - Control recording from any application
• Recording Border - Visual red border shows the recording area
• Minimal UI - Clean, dark-themed toolbar that stays out of your way
• Hardware Accelerated - Uses H.264 encoding for efficient, high-quality output
• No Audio - Video-only recording (by design, for quick screen captures)

Screenshots

Coming soon

Requirements

For Running (End Users)

• Windows 10 version 1803 (April 2018 Update) or later
• Windows 11 supported
• .NET 8.0 Desktop Runtime (x64)

For Building (Developers)

• Windows 10/11
• .NET 8.0 SDK (x64)
• Visual Studio 2022 (optional, for IDE development)

Installation

From Release (Recommended)

1. Install the .NET 8.0 Desktop Runtime if not already installed
2. Download the latest release from the Releases page
3. Extract and run VideoSnip.exe

Build from Source

Prerequisites

1. Install .NET 8.0 SDK
   • Download from: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0
   • Choose the SDK (not just Runtime) for your platform (x64)
   • Run the installer and follow the prompts
   • Verify installation:

     dotnet --version

     Should show 8.0.x or higher

Build and Run

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/video-snip.git
cd video-snip

# Restore NuGet packages (dependencies are downloaded automatically)
dotnet restore

# Build in Debug mode
dotnet build -p:Platform=x64

# Or build in Release mode
dotnet build -c Release -p:Platform=x64

# Run the application
dotnet run --project VideoSnip -p:Platform=x64

Dependencies

All dependencies are managed via NuGet and will be automatically downloaded during the build:

Package	Version	Purpose
ScreenRecorderLib	6.6.0	Screen capture and H.264 video encoding

Running Tests

# Run all tests
dotnet test

# Run with verbose output
dotnet test -v normal

Creating a Self-Contained Build

To create a standalone executable that doesn't require .NET to be installed:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained -p:Platform=x64

The output will be in VideoSnip/bin/Release/net8.0-windows10.0.26100.0/win-x64/publish/

Usage

1. Launch Video Snip - A minimal toolbar appears
2. Choose capture mode:
   • Click Window to record a specific window
   • Click Region to drag-select an area
3. Select resolution (optional) - Pick a preset from the dropdown for fixed dimensions
4. Make your selection:
   • For Window mode: Click on the window you want to record
   • For Region mode: Drag to select an area (or click to place fixed-size region)
5. Recording starts automatically with a red border indicator
6. Control recording:
   • Click Pause to pause, Resume to continue
   • Click Stop or press Space/Enter/Esc to stop
7. Save your video - Choose a location in the save dialog

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Ctrl+Shift+S	Stop recording (global)
Ctrl+Shift+P	Pause/Resume recording (global)
Space / Enter / Esc	Stop recording (when app focused)
Esc	Cancel region/window selection

Resolution Presets

Preset	Dimensions
Free	Drag to any size
16:9	Aspect ratio constraint
4:3	Aspect ratio constraint
1:1	Square aspect ratio
9:16	Vertical/mobile aspect ratio
3840x2160 (4K)	Fixed 4K resolution
1920x1080	Fixed Full HD resolution
1280x720	Fixed HD resolution
800x600	Fixed resolution

Technical Details

• Framework: .NET 8.0 with WPF
• Video Encoding: H.264 via ScreenRecorderLib
• Output Format: MP4
• Bitrate: Adaptive (8-20 Mbps based on resolution)
• Frame Rate: 30 FPS (24 FPS for 4K+)
• Max Resolution: 4096px width (ultrawide monitors auto-scale)
• Platform: x64 only

Project Structure

VideoSnip/
├── VideoSnip/
│   ├── App.xaml              # Application entry point
│   ├── MainWindow.xaml       # Main toolbar UI
│   ├── Helpers/
│   │   └── NativeMethods.cs  # Win32 API interop
│   ├── Models/
│   │   └── RecordingRegion.cs # Region and preset models
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── RecordingController.cs    # Recording orchestration
│   │   └── RecordingBorderService.cs # Recording border overlay
│   └── Views/
│       └── RegionSelector.xaml # Region/window selection overlay
├── VideoSnip.Tests/          # Unit tests
└── VideoSnip.sln

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• ScreenRecorderLib - Screen recording library
• Inspired by Windows Snipping Tool

Roadmap

• System tray integration
• Global hotkeys
• Full screen capture
• Audio recording option
• GIF export
• Auto-save option
• Custom quality presets